Blogs

Distance Education 101

I managed to earn bachelor’s and master’s degrees without taking Economics 101, but a trip to the Philippines provided all the lessons I missed. Visiting a rural community proved the point about importing and exporting, namely that isolation ensures conditions will not improve.

Nice sweater, kid

When I received a copy of the school district’s budget book, its glossy cover struck my eye. Something didn’t quite look right. The teachers depicted looked a little too perfect, and students were a tad too photogenic. And outdated.

Clipperton Island

In examining records on students’ countries of origin, one nation stood out — Clipperton Island. I’d never heard of it, but sure enough, Clipperton is out there… way out there. It has no roads, no electricity, no running water, no economy and, according to the CIA, no inhabitants. So how do you explain two students claiming they’re from an uninhabited island?

“I went through a stupid stage”

Back in the day, Don Armstrong was a bad boy. He readily admits that. Armstrong has been arrested, ticketed and appeared in court multiple times. “I went through a stupid stage,” he admits. After winning a highly contested school board election, he went through his rap sheet line by line, but still says the weed wasn’t his.

Beretta issues pardon

To get a better understanding of what today’s teens are facing, I spent an entire week as a student at Bishop Verot High School. I asked for no special treatment, and that meant hours of homework every night, exams, cafeteria food and a spot on the baseball team. And unfortunately, the “Verot experience” also meant detention.

What happens in Vegas

When Superintendent James Browder was named a finalist for the top post in Clark County, Nev., the possibilities were endless — not necessarily his career potential, but pun potential. Las Vegas and its gambling culture would have been a gold mine for us. If Browder had played his cards right, headline writers would have hit the jackpot.